Appointment of the Bishop of Durham: 19 February 2026

The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Richard (Rick) Simpson, Archdeacon of Auckland in the Diocese of Durham, for election as Bishop of Durham, in succession to The Right Reverend Paul Roger Butler, following his retirement.

Background

Rick was educated at Keble College, Oxford, and trained for ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He served his title at St. Gabriel's Heaton, in the Diocese of Newcastle, and was ordained Priest in 1994.

From 1997, Rick served as Priest-in-Charge, and then Vicar, Holy Trinity, Jesmond, and St. Barnabas and St. Jude, Sandyford, in the Diocese of Newcastle.   In 2006, he was appointed IME 2 lead for the Dioceses of Durham and Newcastle, supporting curates and training incumbents, and Priest-in-Charge, St. Brandon's, Brancepeth, in the Diocese of Durham.

In 2018, Rick took up his current role as Archdeacon of Auckland.